Jack Shand International Travel Grants

Purpose: The Society for the Scientific Study of Religion is an international association which seeks to promote the scientific study of religion worldwide through its journal and several programs offering support for research and travel to the annual conference. The Society offers a limited number of travel grants to help defray costs of attendance at its annual meeting for scholars living outside the United States and Canada. Grants are given on the basis of demonstrated financial need and quality of proposal. Applications from scholars in less developed countries and from those who have not previously received a Shand International Travel grant or attended a SSSR annual meeting are particularly welcome.

The following are the rules and expectations for those applying for Jack Shand International Travel grants:

English language proficiency is required and applicants must hold a terminal degree for the field, normally the PhD.

Paper or session proposed must be presented at a SSSR session and applicants must attend the entire annual meeting.

Scholars who are not currently members of SSSR may apply, but, if successful, they MUST become SSSR members in order to receive the award.

Recipients of SSSR travel awards during the two previous years are not normally eligible.

Applications must be received no later than March 31, 2018, which is also the deadline for submitting abstracts or session proposals for the meeting. Decisions will be made by April 30, 2018, the same time notifications go out for paper and sessions proposals.

Those who receive awards must preregister using a special code by May 30, 2018, but meeting registration fees are included as part of the Shand International Travel grant.

Amount of grants may be capped, and thus may not cover all travel costs for successful applicants.

Travel reimbursement will paid in person at the annual meeting unless other arrangements have been made.

Applications should be in English. All selection criteria should be addressed explicitly in the application.

Applicants should compile a single PDF document with subheads for each of these five sections, in this order:

Cover letterExplain how a travel grant would assist the applicant's scholarly work and ability to contribute to the scholarly community in his or her home country. The letter should state whether (and when) the applicant has previously attended SSSR meetings and details of any previous travel awards received from SSSR.

Extended abstract for presentation (500–1,000 words).Briefly describe the research question, data and methods employed, initial findings or hypotheses, and the significance of this study. The intellectual excellence of the project is an important consideration for this award.

Statement of needDescribe efforts made to obtain support from elsewhere (e.g., the home institution).

BudgetProvide estimated costs of travel, hotel, meals and incidental expenses, the amount of assistance requested, and the amount of co–funding expected from other sources.

Curriculum VitaThis should be no more than two pages.

Finally, please submit at least one academic letter of reference from a member of SSSR.

Applications should be sent electronically via a submission form that will be available soon.